Making Friends in Vietnam as an Expat
Expat networks, hobby groups, language exchanges and the social patterns of HCMC, Hanoi and Đà Nẵng.
The hardest year of any expat life is the first one, anywhere. Vietnam makes it slightly easier than most because the expat community is open, the cost of going out is low enough that "let's grab a beer" is no commitment, and Vietnamese culture genuinely likes foreigners willing to engage.
Where expats meet
Online to offline
- InterNations Vietnam — monthly events in HCMC and Hanoi, professional crowd, $0–10 entry
- Meetup.com — busy in HCMC for hiking, photography, board games, language exchange
- Facebook groups — "Saigon Expats", "Hanoi Massive", "Đà Nẵng Expats" — daily posts, frequent meet-ups
- Discord servers for each city, often gamer/tech leaning
- Bumble BFF — works surprisingly well in HCMC
Sport and fitness
- Running: Saigon Hash House Harriers, Hanoi Hash, Đà Nẵng Hash — weekend social runs, drinking afterwards, decades-old tradition
- Cycling: Saigon Cycling Group, Hanoi Cycle Club — weekend road rides
- Climbing: Push Climbing (HCMC), VietClimb (Hanoi) — small, tight community
- Football: Saigon Heat (semi-pro), expat amateur leagues, weekend pickup
- Rugby: HCMC Rugby Club, Hanoi Saigon Sailors
- Cricket: Saigon Cricket Club
- Sailing: Royal HCMC YC, Hanoi area lake sailing
- MMA/BJJ: Saigon Sports Club, Saigon BJJ, Hanoi Top Team
Hobby and creative
- Saigon Outcast / The Factory (HCMC) — art events, markets, social
- Manzi, Tadioto (Hanoi) — art scene, mixed crowd
- Co-working spaces: Toong, Dreamplex, Hanoi Hub, BHub, Tâm Trí Lực — slack channels, lunch events
- Photo walks: organised regularly in both cities
- Book clubs: a handful in HCMC and Hanoi (check Saigon Reading Club)
Volunteering
- Saigon Children's Charity (saigonchildren.com)
- Streets International (HCMC) — hospitality training for at-risk youth
- Blue Dragon (Hanoi) — anti-trafficking, kids
- VinaCapital Foundation — health-focused
Volunteer commitments build deeper friendships than bar nights ever will.
City-specific patterns
| City | Social texture |
|---|---|
| HCMC | High turnover, easy to meet people, harder to build deep ties; lots of openings in any given week |
| Hanoi | Smaller expat scene, slower to crack, tighter friendships once you're in |
| Đà Nẵng | Small, gym-and-coffee culture, digital-nomad-heavy, lots of casual coworking meet-ups |
| Hội An | Tiny expat scene, everyone knows everyone, very local-friendly |
HCMC's classic problem: people stay 18 months and leave. Hanoi's classic problem: it takes 6 months to feel included. Choose accordingly.
How to actually break in
- Pick three hobbies and show up to each weekly for two months. You will know the regulars by month two.
- Throw something — a Sunday brunch at your apartment, a hike, a film night. Hosts become hubs.
- Say yes for the first three months to every invitation, even bad ones.
- Don't only do expat things. Mix Vietnamese contexts: gym, café, neighbourhood market. Vietnamese friendships build slowly but last.
- Learn names of staff at your local coffee shop, gym, market. You will see them more than anyone.
Vietnamese friendships
The pattern: warmer than Western friendships at the start (lots of food invitations, photos together, group chats), slower to deepen than they appear, then enormously loyal once established. Vietnamese friends will show up to airport, drive you when sick, lend you money. The investment is mutual — be ready to do the same.
Practical: accept the food, accept the karaoke, accept the wedding invitations even if you barely know the bride. Decline three times in a row and you're out.
What kills social momentum
- Working from a serviced apartment and never going to a coworking space
- Saying "I'll get to it next week" to invitations
- Dating exclusively and dropping your friends
- Drinking too much and being remembered as the foreigner who drinks too much
- Hanging only with your country's expats — fine for the first month, then expand
Honest take
Vietnam is not lonely if you do the work. The work is showing up, three nights a week, for the first three months. After that you will have more invitations than you can attend. Skip the work and you will be the foreigner sitting alone in their apartment wondering why expat life is hard.
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